wolfgeamm



(No-Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. & P. WOLFGRAMM.

' LOOK.

No. 601,111. I Patented Mar. 22.1898.

' mvklvrofis yw/msssss. V 46% mm 7% ATTORNEYS,

" UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER WOLFGRAMM AND PAUL 'WOLFGRAMM, OF GUBEN, GERMANY.

LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 601,111, dated March 22, 1898.

Application filed May 24, 1895. flerial No. 550,586. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known'that we,WALTER WOLFGRAMM and PAUL WOLFGRAMM, subjects of the King of Prussia, residing at Guben, in the Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire, have invented new and useful Improvements in or Relating to Locks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention comprises an improved safety-lock with groups of tumblers lodged one above the other in pairs, which may vary in number and be so arranged that the separate tumblers of each individual pair are not in contact with each other when the lock is opened, while at the moment of closing there is a distribution or rearrangement in position of the diiferent groups or pairs of tumblers, determined or brought about by the arrangement of the parts of the key-bit and their direct action upon the lower tumblers of each group. In the example to be described there are three individual groups of tumblers provided, corresponding to which are three adjustable parts in the bit of the key,-while a fourth permanantly fixed moves the lock-bolt.

Other features of the invention will appear from the description following hereinafter.

The novelty of the lock will be pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in whichi Figure 1 shows the safety-lock with the lockbolt and some secondaryparts, the cover-plate being removed. Fig. 2 shows the lock in its opened position with a group of tumblers, the lowermost of which secures the spring-bolt. Fig. 3 represents the lock in its locked position, while Fig. 4 is an inner top view of three tumblers arrangedone beside the other and of the small pinion extending over all the tumblers. Fig. 5 shows in a plan View, crosssection, and longitudinal section a key belonging to this safety-lock, the bit parts of which I are adjustable at right angles to the shank.

Fig. 6 shows in a longitudinal section,cross-section, and front and sideview a key provided also with adjustable parts of the bit and fit- .ting on a short projecting pin fixed to the lockplate. Figs. 7, 8, and 8 illustrate modified constructions of the key,the parts of the bit bein g arranged in a somewhat difierent manner. When the lock is opened, as represented in Fig. 2, a hook or catch 1) on the lower tumblers b of the first group lies in a notch g of the bolt 9, Fig. 1, while the upper tumblers a. are guided by pins 8 and s in suitablyshaped slots r and 0, arranged unsymmetrically opposite and contrary to each other. The upper tumblers a are also held so as to be slidable and rotatable by means of a fixed pin 25, secured to the lock-plate and lodged in a slot h, on which pin the other or lower tumblers b also rotate simply without being slidable. Of the two pins first named, one, s, is secured to the lock-plate, while the other guide-pin s is secured to the lock-bolt and is movable therewith. By means of suitable springs f the tumblers are restored to and held when free in their original positions. The tumblers are provided with teeth m, m,

' and m which at the moment of locking engage with each other and also with a pinion o, mounted loosely on a stud or pin secured to the lock-plate. The lock-bolt g is guided by a'special stud or pin 0, also fixed to the lock-plate and engaging with a slot in the bolt. Now if it be desired to close the lock represented in Fig. 2 into the position shown in Fig. 3, the key d, Fig. 8, must be inserted in the keyhole Z, and on being turned around to the left the bolt 9 is gradually thrown forward, while the projecting nose I) of the tumbler b lying nearest to the lock-plate is lifted out of the notch g in the bolt. Thebolt thus liberated in the course of its forward movement carries forward with it the stud or pin 8, secured to it, and after the latter reaches the end of the horizontal arm of the slot r in the upper tumblers a allows these to drop until the stud or pin reaches the upper end of the vertical arm of the said slot. As the key is further turned to the left, the lock-bolt g and stud s carry the upper tumbler a sufficiently far forward for the teeth m and m to become slightly engaged with those on the lower tumbler, a little play still remaining in the third slot h on its fixed stud t. At the same time there is partial engagement between the other teeth m of the upper tumbler and the loose pinion c. When the rotation of the key has been completed as far as possible, the stud s, secured to the lockplate, reaches the end of the horizontal arm of the second slot 0 in the upper tumbler a,

when the teeth are finally pushed together, and a spring f at the same time pressing the tumbler a downward causes the pinion o to turn and also the tumbler to descend till the pins sands are at the ends of the vertical portions of the slots 2 and r in the tumbler a, and thus the lock is fixed in the locked position, as shown in Fig. 3.

The opening of the lock is effected by turning the key in the opposite direction--viz., to the rightwhereby the tumblers a b are raised, while the pinion Q; at the same time is turned backward until the pins .9 and 8 once more resume their position in front of the horizontal arms of the slots 0' and r of the upper tumbler (L. Then as the turning of the key continues further it carries the bolt 9 along with it by means of the neck formed in the rear portion of the latter, whereby the pins 8 and s are caused to move horizontally in the slots 0 and r of the upper tumbler a. As the turning of the key is completed the bolt 1 is finally thrust back in the lock, while at the same time the upper tumbler a is carried backward by the pin .9 011 the bolt, and the teeth are all disengaged. The bit of the key being now removed from the lower tumbler Z) the projecting nose Z) of the latter, with the aid of the spring f, drops into the notch g in the lock-bolt g, which brings the look back to the original open position illustrated in Fig. 2.

As may be seen from what has been said above the changes in the lock depend upon the positions given to the tumblers on closing it, while these positions can or may only be brought about by the use of a key to close the lock, whereof the several parts of the bit, each acting directly upon one of the tumblers, are themselves adjustable and variable in their relative positions.

\Vhen the lock is closed, the relative positions of the tumblersi. e., the steps or differences between them-are exactly the same as those of the corresponding parts of the key-bit when employed for the closure. Consequently so often as before looking the positions of the parts of the key-bit are altered just so often also when locked will the tumblers inside the lock be leftin an altered position exactly corresponding thereto.

There are shown in Fig. 4 three groups of tumblers a a a and Z) Z) Z), over which all extends the pinion v. The pinion t is mounted loosely on a pin and free to rotate in either direction and serves to increase the security of the lock against attacks. It is placed ontirely out of contact with the teeth m of the upper tumblers a, and as soon as the lock is closed the tumbler drops out of contact with the pinion t, which is once more left free. Supposing now that some one tries to open the lock with false keys, or a picklock, or skeleton key, (apart from a complete want of knowledge of the relative positions in which the lower tumblers have been left in respect to one another, and which has been given to 'them when last locked by the shape of the key-bit at the moment of locking,) he will with his instrument first feel for the farthest lower tumbler l1, and lifting this will consequently also raise the upper tumbler (L bclonging thereto and forming part of the same group until the horizontal parts of the slots are opposite the pins 3 and s. The pinion o is set in motion as soon as the teeth m of the lifted tumbler a come in contact and engage therewith. The next lower tumbler I) is then felt for and raised in a similar manner, when the teeth m of the corresponding upper tumbler to also engage with the said pinion 21, causing it to rotate still farther. Consequently the first tumbler previously brought into engagement with the pinion r is raised still farther, and the same thing will occur to the second tumbler as soon as the third and last tumbler is raised. Thus by means of the pinion 7) it becomes impossible by feeling with a picklock, a skeleton key, or the like to bring the whole of the upper tumblers (0111130 line one after the other, so as to have their horizontal slots all alike in front of the pins 5 and s and to hold them fast in that position, and as this is an indispensable condition to opening the lock and securing it again it must be evident that ex ery unauthorized attempt to open the lock by means of a pickloek or false keys must fail, inasmuch as that is only possible by the employment of the proper key having its key-bit arranged exactly to correspond to the lower tumblers, so as to touch and lift them all at once.

A key (I, (see Fig. 5,) intended to fit and open such a safety-lock as above described, has the movable part j of the bit, each provided with a slot t and slipped over a pin (1, which is firmly secured to the foremost (or topmost) part of the bit, formed in one with the key-shaft. The separate parts of the bit may be of any desired number and are serrated on their surfaces, which are in contact. The length also of each individual part of the bit may vary as desired. These several parts may bear lateral marks in the shape of numbers or scales, as also the fixed orpermanent end part, and the division lines or parts may correspond to the serrations between the parts, by means of which the desired position of the tumblers in the lock can be fixed.

The fixing of the parts of the bit may be effected by means of a slide 7; and a nut 7t, screwed over it, which is moved up and down by screwing to right or left on the key-shank, provided for the purpose with a screwthread In a pin-key (shown in Fig. 6) intended to fit onto a pin secured to the loek-plate the separate movable parts j of the bit are slipped with their slots over a pin (1, secured to the first or end part of the bit, formed in one with the key (Z. In this case the movable parts do not pass through the key-shank, as in the previous instance, but are slipped over it the cross-sections in Figs. 5, 6, and 7, that from outward, and their fastening in any parparts of the bit have each a groove 00, and.

they are slipped onto the shank from the front end. The part which moves the bolt is slipped on last and then firmly secured to the key-shank. The adjustment of the parts of the bit takes place, as above described, and shown in Figs. 6 and 5. The movable parts of the bit may, however, be adjusted andfixed by means of a small screw passing through them and entering into the fixed part of the bit and having a countersunk head, or solid bits I)? (see Fig. 8) of various forms may be inserted in the key-shank and secured therein by means of a screw s ,which is screwed up with its point in a recess Q) in the lug z of the bit. The bit, so as to vary its form, (see Fig. 8 may be constituted of several parts of different lengths, which are inserted and held together or fixed by means similar to that last mentioned above and shown in Fig. 8, Acertain number of variations in the shape of the bit can in this manner be obtained by interchange of the separate parts, as they are of difierent lengths. Both these kinds of keys may also be constructed as pin-keys, instead of with solid shanks, because the interchangeable bits, as

well as the bits made up in parts, which arealso interchangeable, instead of being fastened with screws are fixed by means of a sleeve ornutscrewed on outside the keyshank on a screw-thread specially cut for the purpose.

It will be seen, especially by reference to the shank of the key is provided with two parallel (plane) guiding-surfaces ranging longitudinally of the key, and similarly each bit is provided with two parallel engaging surfaces in contact with said guides.

From what precedes, however, it necessarily follows that the lock left thus closed can only be opened by a key having exactly the same form or arrangement of bit as that which closed the look, while by the employment of a key to which a great variety of bit forms may be given, as well as by the number of the tumblers and of the radial slots therein,a very large number of ways of closing and locking the lock mechanism, each one difiering from all the rest, may be obtained.

For the sake of convenience we shall in the claims refer to the tumblers a as upper tumblers and to the tumblers b as lower tumblers. We desire it to be understood, however, that the lock will operate as well in an inverted position as when upright, as shown. The terms upper and lower tumblers,

therefore, are not to be understood as limiting the scope of the claims.

We claim 1. A safety -lock comprising upper and lower tumblers which are mounted to turn about the sameaxis and one of which extends adjacent to the keyhole so as to be operated by the key, one of the tumblers having a single tooth, and the corresponding tumbler having a series of teeth adapted to hold the tooth of the mating tumbler in the locked position, substantially as described.

2. A safetylock, comprising a series of movable tumblers located one behind the other, and provided with serrations, and a pinion adapted to engage all of the said tumblers during their movement from the locked position to the open position, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. A safety-lock comprising pivoted upper ond lower tumblers, one of which extends adjacent to the keyhole so as to be operated by the key, a sliding main locking-bolt con.

structed for locking engagement with said key-operated tumbler, and a guide secured to the main locking-bolt and engaging the other tumbler, one of the tumblers having a single tooth, and the corresponding tumbler having a series of teeth adapted to hold the tooth of the mating tumbler in the locked position, substantially as described.

4. Asafety-lock comprising pivoted upper and lower tumblers of which the lower tumbler extends adjacent to the keyhole to be operated by the key, and a sliding bolt arranged to be operated by the key and in looking engagement with the lower tumbler so that the bolt cannot be moved until the said lower tumbler has been raised by the key, said bolt being provided with a guide engaging the upper tumbler and provided with an approximately horizontal part to hold the upper tumbler in an elevated position,and an approximately vertical part to allow said upper tumbler to drop at the end of the sliding movement of the bolt, the mating tumblers being provided in their opposing faces with projections adapted to interlock when the lower tumbler is raised and the upper tumbler depressed,substantiallyas described.

5. A safety-lock, comprising pivoted upper and lower tumblers constructed to interlock, the upper tumbler being mounted to slide longitudinally on its pivot and the lower tumbler being arranged to be operated by the key, a sliding bolt constructed to be locked by said tumblers, and provided with a guide engaging the upper tumbler to carry the same forward to locking engagement with the lower tumbler, substantially as described.

6. A safety-lock, comprising pivoted upper and lower tumblers constructed to interlock, the upper tumbler being mounted to slide longitudinally on its pivot and the lower tumbler being arranged to be operated by the key, a sliding bolt constructed to be locked by said tumblers, and provided with a guide In testimony whereof we have signed our 10 engaging the upper tumbler to carry the same names to this specification in the presence of forward to locking engagement with the lower two subscribing witnesses. tuinllrt e an 1 a stat1onai ,uide likewise e11 WALTER \VOLFGRAMBL pagin the upper tumbler to allow the same and tl i e mating tumbler to move into a lock- PAUL \VOLFGRAMM' ing engagement with the bolt after the two Witnesses: tumblers have come into engagement with ADOLF FERD. IIEINRI SCI-IAEFER, each other, substantially as described. EMIL GRUND. 

